Barbarian Week: New Primal Paths for D&D 5e
image credit: Brian Hagan
Path of the Raging Spirit
The Raging Spirit is a barbarian whose rage is so great, they are consumed by it. They become partially elemental when raging, either a rumbling torrent of stone, a blazing inferno, a howling wind, or a crashing wave of icy water. This class could have easily become a Way of Four Elements Monk, so I deliberately stayed away from that except for the Elemental Attunement ability. Some of the abilities are really cool and I tried to balance them, but if you have any ideas of your own to balance out a certain element feel free to do so! Also note that the earth totem is immune to poison at 14th level, because I didn’t want them to be immune to both piercing AND bludgeoning all the time. Also I was very tempted to call their final ability “I’m always angry” but I restrained myself.
Elemental Rage: At 3rd level, you choose an elemental totem of earth, fire, wind, or water. When you enter a rage, you transform into a pseudo-elemental and gain the elemental creature type for the duration of the rage. You retain all other statistics but gain the following benefits if your chosen totem:
Earth: You gain immunity to nonmagical piercing damage and any critical hit against you becomes a regular hit. You gain a burrow speed equal to half your movement speed.
Fire: Your rage bonus damage increases by 2 and all of your bonus rage damage counts as fire damage. Creatures that attempt to make a melee attack against you take 1d4 fire damage.
Wind: Your bonus movement speed increases by 10 ft. and you no longer provoke attacks of opportunity.
Water: You gain immunity to nonmagical bludgeoning damage and gain a +2 bonus to Shove attempts. You gain a swim speed equal to your movement speed.
Elemental Attunement: At 3rd level, you can use your action to briefly control elemental forces nearby, causing one of the following effects based on your totem element:
Earth: You create a harmless rumbling of earth nearby, or you can shape 1 square foot of stone into a crude shape you desire for 1 minute.
Fire: You create a harmless shower of sparks nearby, or you can light a small fire.
Wind: You create a harmless puff of wind nearby, or you can shape 1 square foot of mist into a crude shape you desire for 1 minute.
Water: You create a harmless spray of mist nearby, or you can shape 1 square foot of water into a crude shape you desire for 1 minute.
Totemic Blast: At 6th level, you can expend a use of your rage ability as an action to send elemental energy in a ball thrown at a target you designate up to 60 ft. away. The ball deals 1d8 damage for every two barbarian levels you have. You must be able to see the target. The damage type depends on your elemental totem: Bludgeoning (earth totem), Fire (fire totem), Thunder (wind totem), or Cold (water totem). The creature may attempt a DEX saving throw with a DC equal to 8+your STR mod+your proficiency modifier to halve the damage.
Force of Nature: At 10th level, you gain a new ability based on your totem:
Earth: You gain 10 temporary HP when you enter a rage. While raging, you count as a Large creature for the purposes of being grappled, being shoved, or being affected by spells that would force you to move like Gust of Wind.
Fire: Your movement leaves a trail of fire up to 30 ft. behind you as you move. Creatures that pass through this trail or end their turn within it take 3d6 fire damage. Your fiery trail fades at the start of each of your turns.
Wind: You gain a fly speed equal to your movement speed when raging and can squeeze through spaces less than an inch in diameter.
Water: Whenever you land an opportunity attack on a creature, that creature must make a CON saving throw with a DC equal to 8+your STR mod+your proficiency modifier or halt their movement and become frozen in place for 1d4 rounds.
True Elemental: At 14th level, even when not raging, you retain the abilities of your Elemental Rage and Force of Nature abilities and gain immunity to a damage type based on your elemental totem: Poison (earth totem), Fire (fire totem), Thunder (wind totem), or Cold (water totem).
image credit: Wayne Reynolds
Path of the Runescarred Berserker
A barbarian that has learned primal sorcery by carving their flesh with arcane symbols. Perhaps they learned this from their ancestors, or from some higher power. The Runescarred Berserker is inspired by the prestige class of the same name from 3.5e D&D. The class can cast spells, but it’s difficult to maintain with costly components, time to scribe, and it can only cast one of the 7 it has prepared and can only target themselves. It’s also REALLY COOL. I gave them bonuses to AC to counteract their decreased max HP from scribing multiple runescars. If +2 proves too much, dial it back to +1. The spells alone are more than enough of a bonus. And yes, I am aware the illustration is a Mul monk from Dark Sun... just focus on the tattoos, okay?
Scribe Runescar: Starting at 3rd level, you can carve ritualistic runic scars into your flesh and cast spells from them as if from a scroll. A scar takes one hour to scribe, costs 5 GP per spell level to create and reduces your maximum hit points by 1 per spell level until the scar's power is expended. Casting a spell from a runescar removes the scar's power and causes it to fade. You can only have up to 7 scars on your body at a time, two on your torso, one on each arm, one on each hand, and one on your head. Your runescars' spells can only target you, even if they would normally be able to target others. You learn to scribe 2 1st level spells from the Runescarred Berserker list at 3rd level and learn one new spell every level thereafter. You can only learn a spell with a spell level equal to or less than one third of your barbarian level. You cannot cast these spells normally except through the use of a Runescar.
Runescared Berserker Spell List:
1st: Protection from Evil and Good, Shield of Faith, Bless, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, False Life, Jump,
2nd: Alter Self, Blur, Enhance Ability, Invisibility, Magic Weapon, Protection from Poison, See Invisibility
3rd: Protection from Energy, Blink, Clairvoyance, Elemental Weapon, Gaseous Form, Vampiric Touch
4th: Death Ward, Dimension Door, Divination, Elemental Bane, Fire Shield, Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisibility, Stoneskin, Polymorph
Forbidden Knowledge: At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with your choice of either Religion or Arcana.
Thick Skin: At 6th level, you gain +1 natural armor to your AC.
Will of Force: At 10th level, when you are subjected to a spell or ability that requires you to make a WIS saving throw, you may choose to make a CON saving throw instead. Once you use this ability you must wait a long rest before using it again.
Thicker Skin: At 14th level, your natural armor bonus increases to +2.
image source: Frank Frazetta
Path of the Beastlord
The Beastlord attunes with nature on a primal level, gaining the trust of a fierce animal companion. Basically a barbarian with the ranger’s animal companion. It’s sort of like the frenzied rage of the Berserker path’s extra attack, except it’s on an animal companion. Be careful of this class as it essentially gives the barbarian an increased hit point pool and negates the penalty of attacking recklessly if you simply use the companion for flanking bonuses.
Animal Companion: At 3rd level, you learn to use your primal presence to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You normally select you companion from among the following animals: an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area. At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time. Unlike the Ranger, you cannot return your animal companion to life.
Companion’s Bond: Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one. The companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own.
Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls.
Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws. For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.
Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise. Your companion shares your alignment.
Wild Empathy: At 3rd level, you become proficient with the Animal Handling skill. If you are already proficient with this skill, you instead double your proficiency modifier to Animal Handling checks. This ability does not stack with Expertise and other such features.
Bestial Rage: At 6th level, while you are raging, your animal companion gains a bonus to damage equal to your rage damage bonus.
Enlarge Companion: At 10th level, whenever you enter a rage, your animal companion increases in size by one size category, adding 1d4 to its damage rolls for the duration of the rage and granting it advantage on STR checks and STR saving throws.
Animal Empathy: At 14th level, you can cast Speak with Animals once per day.
